What does a green flash look like?
Emma Newman
Updated on May 16, 2026
Likewise, people ask, is there really a green flash?
The green flash is an optical phenomenon that you can see shortly after sunset or before sunrise. It happens when the sun is almost entirely below the horizon, with the barest edge of the sun – the upper edge – still visible. For a second or two, that upper rim of the sun will appear green in color.
One may also ask, how rare is the green flash? Sometimes, when the air is especially clear, enough of the blue or violet light rays make it through the atmosphere and create a blue flash instead of a green one. In this rare circumstance, the upper section of the sun may appear green for up to 15 seconds. The rarest type of green flash is known as a green ray.
Likewise, people ask, what causes a green flash?
The green flash is a phenomenon that occurs at sunset and sunrise when conditions are favorable, and results when two optical phenomena combine: a mirage and the dispersion of sunlight. As the sun dips below the horizon the light is being dispersed through the earth's atmosphere like a prism.
Are green sunsets real?
Green Sunsets Are 100% Real. Looking west from Kauai.